Rampage Jackson’s strange UFC saga hit a snag and tonight’s Bellator 61 card underwent a late shake-up. But you want to know yesterday’s sneaky-important MMA story? It doesn’t even involve MMA.
Day one of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
Brock Lesnar, Phil Davis, Johny Hendricks — these guys were all D-1 champs, and with the diverging paths of today’s wrestling and MMA scenes, more and more blue-chip prospects are forgoing the mat for the more lucrative call of mixed martial arts.
If you’ve never seen combat sports’ version of March Madness, give it a shot and check out some of today’s matches. You could be seeing the guys again real soon.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
NCAA Division I wrestling championship session 1 results. Penn State University took the early lead at the opening day of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. Check out the all the day one results.
Rampage Jackson to have double knee surgery. Rampage revealed via Twitter that he will undergo surgery on both of his knees, delaying his recently announced farewell bout against Shogun.
The hurt business: highs and lows in the brick city. Ben Fowlkes offers the second installment of his hit multi-part series that examines the hidden lives of pro fighters within Colorado’s Grudge Training Center.
Bellator 61 weigh-in results. Official weigh-ins for tonight’s Bellator 61 fight card were held at The Orleans Room at Horseshoe Riverdome in Bossier City, Louisiana. All main card fighters met their required weight.
Eric Prindle scratched from Bellator 61. Tonight’s planned Bellator 61 headliner, Eric Prindle vs. Thiago Santos, has been rescheduled for Bellator 62 after Prindle was unable to overcome flu-like symptoms on Thursday.
COUNTDOWN TO A SLIMMER ROY NELSON
Started (on March 4th): 32,000 likes.
Yesterday’s mark: 102,094 likes.
As of this writing: 102,242
Goal (by March 18th): 132,000 likes.
And that’s a wrap, folks. At least we tried.
MEDIA STEW
I’d be lying if I said watching Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar ham it up with little teacups didn’t make my day better.
2011 was all about keepin’ it real for Donald Cerrone. Fight as often as possible and watch the bonus checks rain in. No worries about rankings or title shots. 2012, on the other hand, is going to be a little bit different. Now “Cowboy” wants that belt.
We’re officially entering the summer of MMA documentaries. With Dustin Poirier’s Fightville and Mark Hominick’s Fight, Spirit, Pride already in the works, Eddie Alvarez has decided to throw his hat into the ring. Check out the trailer for Alvarez’s No Plan B, which chronicles his 2010 bout with Roger Huerta.
When you’re in slow times like these, sometimes it feels right to dust off the old classics, and this Shinya Aoki vs. David Gardner clip fits the bill perfectly. One of the most absurd finishes in MMA history. Makes it better: his nickname is “Hello Japan” now.
SO SHOGUN’S BACK ON THE SHELF TOO
2 keep it real,the Shogun fight will have 2 wait,I just found out that I have 2 get surgery on both knees,but I heal fast don’t trip
— Quinton Jackson (@Rampage4real) March 15, 2012
CHECKING IN ON THE CRIPPLER
I just wanna thank everyone who’s been sending me support and positive energy my way. I’m a positive energy whore right now
— chris leben (@cripplerufc) March 15, 2012
“@XStraightEdgePK: @Unclecreepymma How do you grow that awesome mustache ?” magic with a sprinkle of stupidity
— ian mccall (@Unclecreepymma) March 16, 2012
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Thursday, March 15, 2012):
– Bellator 61: Eric Prindle (7-1, 1 NC) vs. Thiago Santos (10-1, 1 NC) rescheduled for Bellator 62
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day goes to BE’s Crooklyn: Josh Rosenthal: The Invisible Man
The ten point must system and judging
“To me the ten point must is fine. I think definitions of the criteria need to be defined greater. I think that’s where discrepancies come into play with it. The way you look at it, is you have striking, grappling, control, and then you have aggression. If you’re saying striking is first, you’re automatically giving an advantage to the striker, opposed to the grappler, who’s category comes second.
To me, grappling and striking are one thing, as far as how they should be judged. They’re different systems of combat, but they should be weighed equally. You have to judge each thing in the context of where it’s being done. So if a guy is in his guard, and he’s throwing elbows from the bottom, and he’s damaging the guy, then that’s effective striking. Be it that it’s on the ground, and not on the feet, it’s still effective striking. When you have a fight where a guy is completely smothering the other with grappling, he’s taking the back, he’s mounting, he’s attacking the neck, he’s attacking the arm, what’s to say that that’s not scoring greater than the striking? They all need to be looked at in the context of what they are.
Personally, I like the idea of who’s trying to win the fight, like the Japanese style, which is focusing on finishing the fight, and scoring technique. By doing that, you kind of push the striking and the grappling context together, because you’re now judging who’s actually trying to finish the match, be it with striking or grappling. I believe damage should be a criteria, which it’s not really at this point, but I believe it should be. Damage doesn’t have to be acute damage of a cut or blood. You end up with fights where guys are getting a lot of body shots, or in positions where their head’s not going to get banged around because it’s buried in a guy’s chest, or in his leg, and he’s trying to take him down. You have to look at it positionally, what’s happening as opposed to the traditional of ‘It’s striking on the feet, and it’s grappling on the ground.’ You have to look at it as a whole. I think the ten point must is fine, I just think the definitions of the criteria need to be looked at a little bit, and adjusted.”
Found something perfect for the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s post.